TracFone Wireless, a reseller active in the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program, filed an emergency petition with the FCC on August 10 raising concerns about the government’s new national verifier tool, meant to help ensure subscribers are who they say they are and avoid the waste, fraud and abuse that has plagued the program in the past. The Obama-era reform finally began rolling out on a preliminary basis in some states this summer. But the government “is launching the Verifier before obtaining access to key databases necessary to automatically verify subscriber eligibility based on participation in qualifying federal programs, particularly Medicaid,” TracFone warned, urging a freeze of the rollout until concerns are addressed.

On March 21, 2018, Sens Tom Udall (D-NM), Tina Smith (D-NM), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Rep Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern over the FCC's report and order"wireless infrastructure streamlining" and asked the FCC to delay finalizing the rule, "until a truly meaningful consultation with Indian Tribes occurs." On Aug 3, Chairman Pai responded, saying that in developing the new rules, the Commission engaged extensively with tribal nations, inter-tribal organizations, and state and local historic preservation officers.

Sinclair Broadcasting has a right to establish that that they did not engage in “misrepresentations and/or lack of candor”—an assertion by the Federal Communications Commission—in matters related to its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media. The FCC has designated the matter for an administrative hearing before an administrative law judge. That hearing must go forward. The character of the licensee is an important component in determining whether the party is a fit trustee for the public’s airwaves. Whether there were misrepresentations to the agency is an important indicator of fitness to hold a broadcast license—and Sinclair holds 173 such permits. The importance of the FCC following through on the administrative hearing was made even more important by President Trump’s tweet after the Commission’s action. When the President of the United States describes the Commission’s decision in such pejorative and judgmental terms, the agency has a responsibility to uphold the honor and integrity of its processes and not to allow a shadow to hang over its proceedings. Here’s what to watch for, however: a backroom consent decree deal.

[Tom Wheeler served as the 31st Chairman of the FCC from 2013-2017]

Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. Many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so. For the most part, Google is upfront about asking permission to use your location information. An app like Google Maps will remind you to allow access to location if you use it for navigating. If you agree to let it record your location over time, Google Maps will display that history for you in a “timeline” that maps out your daily movements. However, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking. For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like “chocolate chip cookies,” or “kids science kits,” pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account.

We always assumed technology and the naked transparency of social media would feed people’s taste for freedom and thirst for democracy. Right now, that assumption looks flawed -- technology might actually solidify the standing of despots and provide them with a new way to exert their power. Ian Bremmer — political scientist, president and founder of Eurasia Group, and author of "Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism" — recently unpacked this issue in a letter to clients. If "the world's most powerful authoritarian states can effectively marshal technologies that give them control over their people...that's a much more geopolitically significant trade to keep favored despots in power than arms sales or even colonialism," he said. Bremmer says changing technology makes him think differently about political stability in China Advances "in facial recognition technology and big data possessed by [Chinese] authorities has dramatically reduced public demonstrations." When everyone is registered in a public database and the Chinese government "can immediately determine who is an enemy of the people, you get fewer self-proclaimed enemies pretty quickly."

President Donald Trump’s anti-press rhetoric is “very close to incitement to violence” that would lead to journalists censoring themselves or being attacked, the outgoing United Nations human rights commissioner has said. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, a Jordanian prince and diplomat, is stepping down in August as UN high commissioner for human rights after deciding not to stand for a second four-year term, in the face of a waning commitment among world powers to fighting abuses. Zeid said the Trump administration’s lack of concern about human rights marked a distinct break with previous administrations, and that President Trump’s own rhetoric aimed at minorities and at the press was redolent of two of the worst eras of the 20th century, the run-up to the two world wars. Zeid singled out the US president’s repeated designation of the press as “the enemy of the people”. “We began to see a campaign against the media … that could have potentially, and still can, set in motion a chain of events which could quite easily lead to harm being inflicted on journalists just going about their work and potentially some self-censorship,” Zeid said. “And in that context, it’s getting very close to incitement to violence.”